No Money March: The Budget Contouring Palette

I know "strobing" is the latest makeup trend but I still think contouring is the most effective way to chisel out some cheek bones and add dimension to the face. I've seen the more high-end contouring palettes and while they look pretty I just couldn't justify dropping the cash on them since I wasn't sure how much use I'd get out of them. Then I found out NYX had one so I figured I'd have a look at it, and here's what I think.

So the palette is £18 in the UK and it's made up of 8 shades. My breakdown of the functions of those shades breaks down to 3 contouring colours, 1 bronzer, 1 banana-powder type shade, 2 shimmer highlights and 1 matte highlight/light face powder. This is currently available in the UK from Boots, Selfridges, Very.com and FeelUnique.com.

I'm really pale and I find most of these shades workable for my skin. Both of the shimmer highlights are lovely on me, the top left corner "Ice Queen" is a lovely pale pinky shimmer that looks lovely on the cheek bones and "Nectar" (top right) is an orangey peach shimmer that I use as a blush topper but I can see this working well on deeper skin tones as well. The formula on the shimmer highlights is the best in the palette, these are really soft and buttery.

The matte highlight "Soft Light" (second from the left) is slightly more powdery feeling. I use this as an all over face powder but it could work as a highlight on darker skins. "Cream" (the yellow shade) is really interesting because I though it would be too dark to work on my skin but I find it blends out great and really brightens the centre of the face. With it being another matter powder it's not as creamy as the shimmers but it's definitely not what I'd call chalky either.

For the bronze-y shades I find I can only really use the two centre shades. "Tan" (bottom left) is too dark to bronze with and too warm to use as a contour and "Hollow" (bottom right) is just way too dark but the formula is pigmented and blendable on both. "Sculpt" (centre right) is my perfect contour shade and "Toffee" makes a nice pale bronzer.

The packaging isn't the most glam looking and it feels a bit cheap, but it's really functional. It seems to be marketed as a pro product so the clear lid makes sense and the hard plastic is durable so I can see this traveling well. I also like that the pans are removable so if you just wanted to travel with one of two shades you could easily pop them out and put them in another palette.

In terms of bang for your buck, it works out at £2.25 per pan and each of the pans is 2.7g. For value it works out similar to their other bronzing products which run for £8 for 9g. I think these are really reasonably priced for what you get.

I also wanted to make an honourable mention to the Spectrum Collection Tapered Finishing Brush, for budget contouring, this brush is amazing. The pink handle and blue bristles is fun and the tapered cut makes it really easy to apply contour where you want it. It's a lovely soft brush that picks up product well and blends it seamlessly and it's a synthetic brush so its cruelty free.

30 Lips in 30 Days - Collection Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream

So we're back with another lip cream and today we have the Collection Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream. I picked this up mainly because they look identical to the NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams and I thought it would be nice to compare the two, especially with the collection ones being a bit cheaper. When first applied the Collection one feels very much like the NYX, both are smooth and creamy in texture and there's quite a bit of moisture in both formulas. The name "moisturising lip cream" is, in my opinion, at least a little bit misleading as both the Collection and the NYX formulas dry down to a powdery matte finish and leave little to no creaminess on the lips. On a blind swatch test I'd assume they were simply different shades of the same product.

It's also hard not to draw on the similarities in the packaging. Both products come in a tube that reflects the colour of the product with a matte black lid and black detailing on the tube and have the same doe-foot applicator. I'd actually say the scent on the two is identical, a light vanilla type scent. The main difference is that the Soft Matte Lip Creams retail at £5.50 and has wide shade selection, where the Cream Puff Moisturising Lip Cream is slightly lower in price at £2.99 a piece and only comes in 3 colours.

30 Lips in 30 Days - NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

As promised, another pick from the NYX Cosmetics line, today we have their Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade "08 - San Paulo". Again, like their Butter Gloss the colour of the packaging reflects the colour of the product and the detailing on the packaging is matte black, the NYX packaging is almost Nars'esque in it's sleekness. "San Paulo" is a mid-tone matte pink that lies somewhere between a red-pink and a fuchsia shade.

The Soft Matte Lip Creams are smooth and creamy to apply and go on with a slight hint of glossiness and then dry down to a matte finish. They do take a little while to set and so can be smudged within a few minutes of application and even once they've set, moisture will make them fade quicker so if you're drinking or anything like that this will need to be retouched through the day.

30 Lips in 30 Days - NYX Butter Gloss

When I heard that NYX Cosmetics was hitting Boots I was jump-up-and-down type excited. I'v heard so much in the blog-o-sphere about NYX but they were near impossible to find in-store in the UK and even places that shipped online weren't great for us. I just picked up a couple of bits to begin with and the Butter Gloss in "Tiramisu" made the first cut. The packaging is nice with the very well colour co-ordinated lid for each shade and the clear plastic tube so you can see the colour of the product and the doe-foot applicator is nice and small so it's easy to apply.

The formula feels a lot like a liquid lip balm, thin and moisturising and really comfortable, my lips actually still feel hydrated after the product wears off which I love. Despite the product being so thin in texture the pigmentation is nice, these are still a lipgloss so they aren't going to be completely opaque but there is a nice amount of colour on the lips and you will be able to see a difference in each shade. I have heard that these glosses can sometimes be a bit streaky but "Tiramisu" doesn't seem to be for me. Very excited to see more from the brand after trying this product. Anyone with recommendations/requests for reviews from NYX let me know in comments!